Innocence: head of a young girl thumbnail 1
Innocence: head of a young girl thumbnail 2
Not currently on display at the V&A

Innocence: head of a young girl

Oil Painting
ca. 1820 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Most of William Etty's portraits date from early in his career; he later abandoned them to concentrate on the large mythological subjects for which he was most admired during his lifetime. This pensive portrait of a young girl shows the stylistic influence of his teacher, the fashionable portraitist Sir Thomas Lawrence. Although painted around 1820, it may have been exhibited at the Society of Arts in London in 1849.


Object details

Category
Object type
TitleInnocence: head of a young girl (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Oil on canvas
Brief description
Oil Painting, 'Innocence: Head of a Young Girl', William Etty RA, ca. 1820
Physical description
An oval head-and-shoulders portrait of a young girl in three-quarter profile.
Dimensions
  • Estimate height: 43.1cm
  • Estimate width: 33cm
Dimensions taken from Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, Ronald Parkinson, Victoria and Albert Museum, London: HMSO, 1990. Oval canvas; the width given is for the widest point.
Style
Credit line
Bequeathed by John Jones
Object history
Bequeathed by John Jones, 1882. Farr (1958) suggests that this may be the portrait of Miss Wallace painted in 1820 and exhibited at the Society of Arts in 1849. A variant canvas is owned by the RA.
Historical context
This painting is similar to contemporary works by Sir Thomas Lawrence, with whom Etty studied.
Subject depicted
Summary
Most of William Etty's portraits date from early in his career; he later abandoned them to concentrate on the large mythological subjects for which he was most admired during his lifetime. This pensive portrait of a young girl shows the stylistic influence of his teacher, the fashionable portraitist Sir Thomas Lawrence. Although painted around 1820, it may have been exhibited at the Society of Arts in London in 1849.
Bibliographic reference
Parkinson, R., Victoria and Albert Museum, Catalogue of British Oil Paintings 1820-1860, London: HMSO, 1990, p. 85
Collection
Accession number
498-1882

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Record createdJune 1, 2006
Record URL
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